the power of children (is wishing on a star)
by FiresFromOurHearts
Summary: Hermione wishes on a star, wishes that children didn't have to fight in wars. And, somewhat surprisingly, her wish begins to come true through the Founding Four brought forward in time.


_**This is written for the Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments) forum, specifically for Assignment #2 Astronomy: Objects of Interest; Task 3: Write about a 'wish upon a star' coming true.**_

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There are many things that people do not say aloud. And there are many more things that people don't know, even if they won't admit to not knowing such things. There is one thing, however, that is rather controversial - as believed as it is ignored, labelled as something imagined. A research paper once refuted it and ultimately concluded that it was something out of a 'children's fairy tale'. And, well, they were wrong but also very much right since it is something out of a children's fairy tale. Where do they think fairy tales came from anyway? It's because belief is a very powerful magic and children are full of belief and hope - both things that can form a very strong, powerful kind of spell.

However, that is not where this story begins. This story begins years and years ago, with a Boy Who Lived. But it also starts some time after that, when numerous children begin school at Hogwarts, where friends are made and fights against trolls occur in bathrooms. It begins with laughter and with fear, with smiles and with tears. It begins in many different ways as most things tend to do. But there is a turning point, in this story, and that is - perhaps - the best starting point for this tale.

Once upon a time, there is a girl who's growing up far too quickly. A girl whose childhood is stolen by a war that takes and takes, taking many lives and even more childhoods. It's a girl who is born to a pair of muggles. A girl who is taught about magic through fairy tales and story books. A girl who struggles to find understanding in books, who wants to know about everything. But it is also a girl who believes in magic, believes in hope, believes in childish things. And the thing is that some girls, even those who try desperately to understand everything, they still believe in fairy tales, still believe in wishes, still believe in wishing on stars.

This girl is called Hermione Granger and, currently, she's sitting by the window in her dorm, staring out at the sky. Her attention is not focussed on the open book resting on her lap nor on the beautiful sunset. Instead, she's lost in her mind, caught up on the idea of how she's too young for this, how they're all too young for this. They're just children playing soldiers in a war of adults. A glimmer of light catches her attention, steals it away, and - feeling like a lost child - Hermione makes a wish_. _

_Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish, I wish tonight. I wish that children didn't have to fight in this war, that we don't have to fight in this war._

People like to pretend they know things; wizards, especially, like to pretend that there is nothing unknown out there, that there is nothing strange about magic. They like to pretend the stars are not powerful and magic is even more so. They don't like to talk about how they cannot tap into that potential. Wizards don't like to acknowledge their limits - but people, in general, are like that.

But here is what matters: the stars are powerful and magic even more so, and Hogwarts is full of children wishing on stars. Hogwarts steals people away with magic, arrests their hearts and their minds and their souls, showing them that their lives will improve with the magic in their blood and in their bones. But Hogwarts cannot do that when people fight in a war, when _children_ fight in a war that is not of their making.

Hogwarts is not power alone, is not magic without a spell. It has a purpose, was constructed with one, and although it has its own intents, it cannot direct a spell without magic. So Hogwarts takes small bits of magic left behind by everyone; former students and current students from throughout the years. And it pulls on the magic of stars and the wishes of children and on belief and hope. And then, Hogwarts makes its own wish.

_I wish, I wish, I wish._

How many children are wishing? How many are magical? How many believe? How many hope? How many wishes are the same? How many wishes can come true?

Let's go back a bit in time because there is another beginning that bares telling. Or, well, not a beginning but instead an ending, of a kind.

Once upon a time, there was a girl. She was strange, this girl, loud and proud and terribly friendly. She enjoyed running barefoot through shallow streams, enjoyed digging in the ground so that her fingerprints were stained with dirt. But this is not the only story that needs a beginning.

Once upon a time, there was a boy. He was quiet and quick and rather cunning. He knew that there was something strange about him, something rather odd. It was in the way he could levitate books far above his head so they came down to him. It was in the way they chased him out of the village.

Once upon a time, there was a girl. She was rather clever, even when society did not want her to be. She enjoyed reading, but that was okay, because there was magic in her and in her family. in time, she would prove that both little girls and women can be clever, but that time is not right now.

Once upon a time, there was a boy. He was a pretty ordinary kid, sparring with wooden swords and chasing friends through the fields on horseback. There was a danger to him, though, although many did not notice as they were too distracted by his red hair, and so ignored the glint in his eye, the thing that told you that he could be deadly.

Once upon a time, there were four kids who met up and became friends, even when the world was against them. Once upon a time, there was magic in the world and magic in friendship. Once upon a time, a school was built upon those foundations. And, as a result, many stories were written and thus Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Godric Gryffindor became known as the Founding Four.

However, the stories and legends and histories do not say how the Founding Four of Hogwarts died. They only say that they all vanished, seemingly together, as they reached the upper edge of their lifespan, as they strode that fine line between death and life. They may not have been together at the time, but they all disappeared and have never been seen since.

The stories and legends and histories are about to continue because wishes are important, belief is important, hope is important, and all together they are powerful, as is magic, as are stars. Moreover, the stories and legends and histories are about to continue because the Founding Four step back onto Hogwarts ground, whisked away from their pasts and potential futures, stolen away by magic of their own creation and also the magic of thousands of kids and thousands of wishes given shape and direction by stars and a school meant to be a safe haven. And when they step back onto those old stones, they know. They know about a million new creations, a million new developments, a million new lies, a million new lives. But, and this is the most vital bit, they know about a war that is asking children to die for it, children to fight in it.

Many things can be warped, the past especially so. There was no battle, no major fight, between the Founding Four. They bickered, as many people do, but they did not separate due to such things. So, when they step out of the past and into their future, it is not to sudden threats or any such thing. No, they step quietly, step with certainty.

There are many things that people do not know about. Many people remember Godric's sword, but forget about Helga's battle-axe. Many people remember Rowena's ward work, but forget about Salazar's famous defences. Many people remember Helga's friendliness, but forget Rowena's connections. Many people remember Salazar's viciousness, but forget about Godric's deadliness.

Most of all, people grow up and forget about wishes on a star. People like to leave fairy tales behind and pretend they can't come true, but that's just because people like to ignore the fact that children have a power all of their own.


End file.
